THE COOPERATIVE MOVEMENT AT THE BEGINNING
Though the economic downturn of the early 80s, and the era of essential commodities was frustrating the average Nigerian; the staff of Total were quick to spot the opportunities in the prevalent nationwide economic recession. They quickly mobilized for communal economics, a situation where they agreed to come together for bulk purchase of essential commodities at reasonable prices for distribution to members.
That was the beginning of the movement called the co-operative society today in EPNL. The nucleus of activity started from the mail room but the idea of coming together was later shared with other staff members who all agreed to form a cooperative society with N20.00 as membership fee.
Operations in the co-operative started on June 6, 1984 but the process of registration began on June 28 1987 when a formal application was made to the Lagos State Government. The body was eventually registered with certificate no LSCS 589 dated March 24, 1988.
At the beginning, the Society put a limit of twenty thousand naira as loan that could be accessed by any member and only those who had up to one thousand naira to their credit were allowed to make partial withdrawal of a maximum of 50% of their savings once in a year. In order to discourage complete withdrawal, a re-registration levy of N50 was charged on such members.
The first Management committee was presided over by Mr Abulude. Others in the team were Mrs. Udoma, Vice President, Mr Joseph Dike, General Secretary, Mr Agomuoh Benjamin, Assistant Secretary, Mr Ade-Conde, Treasurer., Mr Sumola Financial Secretary, Mrs Oyefeso, Messrs Onilogbo, Aburu and Ajari were Ex-officio Members. The tenure of this team expired around 1991.
The Second Management Committee had Mr Agomuh B.O. as President , Mr. Oladimeji K. O. as Vice President, Mrs Essien M. A. as Treasurer, Mr Ojo B. A. as Financial Secretary and Messrs Yusuf, Ogunfayo and Ajiboye were Secretaries at various times of that regime. This team ended their tenure on July 10, 1997.
THE COOPERATIVE TODAY
Currently, the institution caters to over 1,427 members with total assets to the tune of over N32.8billion (as at end of December 2017) with business segments in banking (savings contribution and loans to its members) and real estate business segment. Our Profit After Tax (PAT) has consistently been above N1billion for the last 2-3 years with 0.157% of Non Performing Loan(NPLs) in the last 5 years with 2017 profit base being N2.25 billion.
Our most recent dividend payment was N1.02 in 2017. We are adjudged by the Lagos state Co-operative board, our regulator, as the best co-operative in Nigeria at the moment.
The Cooperative has a strong service culture that has enabled it record consistent year on year growth in clientele base and key financial indices since its inception in 1984.
Total E&P Nigeria Staff Multipurpose Cooperative Society is recognized as one of the most profitable and well managed financial institutions in Nigeria for providing quality service, ethics, professionalism, integrity, innovation and internationally accepted corporate governance standards.